Each month this year, KQED Public Radio's The California Report is hosting special statewide live discussions of health issues of importance to Californians. More than a dozen public radio stations statewide air these informative sessions, and many of them have added local programming of their own to this special project.

June 12's show topic was "The Pharmaceutical Industry: Lifestyle Drugs." Program guests included David Gollaher, president and CEO of the California Healthcare Institute; Sharon Levine, associate executive director for the Medical Group at Kaiser Permanente; and Marilyn Norwood, nursing director and a nurse practitioner at T.H.E. Clinic in Los Angeles. Our special broadcast was part of Health Dialogues, an ambitious two-year special effort to look at California health issues, funded by The California Endowment.

As a California civic and legislative leader, you have made a commitment to examining and addressing health issues. During the show, one of your constituents called us with a question, which we think can be further illuminated with your ideas, suggestions and comments:

Nancy from Berkeley called about medicines she takes but can barely afford. She said rheumatoid and osteoarthritis cause her great pain. The only anti-inflammatory medicine that she can tolerate is Vioxx, which is not on the formulary in her insurance plan, so she pays $200 for a month's supply. She gets her migraine medication at a discounted rate of $10 a pill. These high prescription drug costs contributed to medical expenses totaling $13,000 last year. Her annual salary is $20,000. For individuals in Nancy's circumstances, government assistance can be the difference between adequate care and virtually no care at all. With the public revenue shortfalls anticipated in California this year, public health programs are expected to suffer disproportionately from budget cuts. Would you support making cuts elsewhere, instead, in order to preserve and expand public pharmacy assistance programs that could help individuals like Nancy?

A number of other legislators have responded to questions like this. You can read them on our website. We would be pleased to add your observations to our web site -- particularly any responses to the question above. I invite you to join this lively discussion.

The aim of Health Dialogues is to facilitate a statewide discussion on important health issues -- a conversation that brings to the table (on air and via the World Wide Web) policy makers, state officials, private sector organizations, non-profits and everyday citizens affected by health issues and policies. We believe that your observations and ideas would enrich that conversation.

Sincerely,

Raul Ramirez, Director
News and Public Affairs
KQED Public Radio